The aviation world is abuzz with reports that a group of Concorde fans may have raised enough money to get the historic supersonic jet back in the skies once again. According to the Telegraph newspaper, "Club Concorde" has raised £120 million ($186 million) for its "return to flight" plan and hopes to get one of the decommissioned aircraft back in the skies by 2019. (www.cnn.com) Mais...

Do not hold your breath. The "best" Concorde available is unlikely to ever fly again. A Concorde is much more difficult to resuscitate than a relatively simple WWII warplane. I worked on FiFi some time back and she is simple compared to a Concorde.

Not really. It was designed as a commercial craft, thus it NEEDED to turn a profit. Never did. I guess this thing was the pinnacle of French engineering...blah. Cool and all, certainly not worth resuscitating. I suppose some folks really loved the Corvair....

Concorde was profitable during the last 15 years of service. The reason it was retired was because during the time it was grounded after the AF crash, BA and AF found out they made more money flying former Concorde passengers in First Class on their conventional aircraft, so there was no incentive to upgrade Concorde to current safety standards and re-start the manufacturing of spare parts for it.

Profitable, I’am not so sure. Airline profitability usually depends on years of service and the overall costs to operate. There may have been a time where a $1,600 one ticket and fuel at $.80 a gal allowed profitability but today you can buy a G600 or equivalent, enjoy a 5 course meal, put on your Pj’s and retire to the rear bedroom in the evening while cruising at M.091, enjoy a full breakfast and hit the ground running for a full days work......all for under 70mil! or fly an airliner with lie flat seats and have the same but for whole lot less money.

in miami, the concord went out 11am, and traffic stopped, everyone within earshot stopped and watched this gangly creature use most of the runway in a most loud fashion, rotate, and leave the area, which then became suddenly quiet. I watched this aircraft taxi for takeoff- it's front end seemingly higher , and when the afterburners engaged- wow, wow... Come back concord for nostalgia's sake, skinny cabin, 100 seats, and all.You have been missed.... and damn the fuel prices.....

Nope! ICAO Aviation English is a recommendation, not a law. Although English is common, we often hear other languages on the radio. Air traffic controllers in the Canadian province of Quebec are famous for speaking both French and English.

A couple of nations don’t belong to ICAO so it’s not required for them to speak any English at all. And as far as military aircraft in any ICAO state there is zero requirement for them to speak English. So if intercepted by military aircraft anywhere in the world that pilot might no be able to speak English at all. That is why it’s so important to know the visual clues for intercept procedures. ICAO states are required to be able to speak English but it’s not required for them to use it if not needed.

As far as your statement that English is the international language your just plain wrong. It’s one of the International languages but not the only official one. Each diplomatic situation has different international languages, it’s determined by its governing body. It just happens to be the most popular one. Cantonese will probably replace it in the future if things keep going like they are.

Other than English speaking countries overwhelmingly the radio chatter is in their native tongue. They normally only speak English if the pilot does so on the initial radio call. And in some cases their English is spotty at best.

So everywhere other than English speaking countries English is occasionally used but normally not. Quebec is the exception, it’s an English speaking country, they just hate using it.

Was lucky to have a flight out of National to Dallas cancelled on me & was shuttled to Dulles & put on a Braniff Concorde flight. It was an exceptional experience. The takeoff put you very firmly back in your seat and seemed to be almost straight up. A large MACH Led indicator in the front cabin bulk head read between 0.9 to 0.97 for the cross country trip. At that speed the ground below looked as if the scenery was literally being quickly scrolled by below. Seating was snug in British sports car like fine leather seats and the multi-course+champagne meal was excellent; the on-board chef came by to inquire about your meal.

Braniff is a now defunct major Texas based airline that had an agreement with British Airways & Air France to fly the Concorde on long haul US domestic routes which would connect with Concorde overseas flights. So you fly Concorde from Dallas to Paris or to London with a stop in New York or Washington Dulles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqAC3M--VDw It was quite a ride.

I lived in Miami when there was Concorde service to MIA. The flight path was right over my house. The sound of the engines was instantly recognizable and when I heard it I would run outside to see them on final, or better yet on climb out. What a thrill.

Let's see, a Concorde and a space shuttle. That's 2 out of 4 at the NY Intrepid museum. So let's get the Growler doing tours out in the harbor too. Lots of former Dolphins to help with that. Not sure about the Intrepid itself. We're going to need more volunteers ...

It was an interesting idea from 2015 that clearly has lost momentum and is even more unlikely now than it was then to come about.

In theory a great idea but not at all practical. The aircraft in the fleet were not scrapped-they are still available and on display in various locations. That should suffice. This idea is/was simply too impractical and expensive to continue pursuing.

Keep in mind that even though they are on Display, it still takes a very very long time to get them returned to service and a lot of money to boot! regulations, Time and Maintenance... All cost money and operating a plane is not very cheap!

Since the last of the Martin Mars firefighters were retired, there are no large flying-boat (classic) airframes that could be made flyable. Water and aluminum, particularly saltwater and aluminum are a maintenance nightmare. As to the Connies, I am not up on any others, but there was an L1049H livery'd like TWA only labeled SAC for Save-A-Connie, based in Kansas City and flying to airshows as funding permitted all the way into the 90s. I think she was sold to an Australian organization the could afford to keep her going. see (https://samchui.com/2009/10/19/a-flight-on-l1049g-constellation/#.Wy5mdRJKhXs) There may be others, but rummaging around Tuscon and the high desert of California, I have yet to find a 1049 or 1069 airframe I thought bore much promise.

If those 2% mean I get a chance as a lowly aviation photography geek to see that beauty in the air again - viva la rich!

I live in the Pacific Northwest US where no Concorde routes existed; yet about a half dozen times over the Concorde's career we had them visit for one reason or another. From an early '70s winter weather certification visit by one of the development aircraft, to the delivery of G-BOAG to the Museum of Flight in Seattle 30 years later - I was happy to be there witnessing true beauty on someone else' dime... =}

Reminds me of a "travel club" I joined years ago in Washington called Escape. An older Delta DC-7B flying out of Dulles to everywhere. Only problem was it didn't have the speed of a jet. This new idea, is obviously, on a much grander scale, and definitely better financed.